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Saints Row: The Third 'Whored Mode' impressions

Saints Row: The Third has a two-player, wave-based multiplayer mode in it too and it's called 'Whored Mode.' Xav de Matos had a chance to play it last week and offers his quick impressions.

Saints Row: The Third has a 'Horde Mode,' THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson revealed last week during a press event for the upcoming title. Appearing on a large screen above him was the familiar wording seen in other games, such as Gears of War 3. Only, it was quickly replaced.

The word 'Horde' was scratched out and changed to 'Whored.' This is the Saints Row take on the wave-based multiplayer gametype seen in so many titles over the past few years, with a landslide of over-the-top innuendo.

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Developer Volition has taken its special brand of crazy to new levels of absurdity for the latest game in the Saints Row series. The game's 'Whored Mode' is a two-player online affair, pitting players against a select number enemies found in the game, except each wave is named and themed around crazy weapons, odd enemies, and awkward objectives.

Some waves can be as easy as "Kill all enemies"--a counter appears in the HUD to notify players of remaining adversaries. Other waves ask players to kill enemies in a specific way, such as "Nut Shots Only," where only bullets to the groin will kill rushing enemies.

During my preview, I played through the first 14-or-so waves. Players can select character skins and the map on which the onslaught takes place. The skins available to me during the demo were only those of random-looking NPC characters and not of the famed 3rd Street Saints.

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I can't stress enough how strange the mode can be. I battled angry prostitutes, men in bondage gear brandishing 'dildo-bats' (yeah, those weapons are exactly what you think they are and they have a disgusting amount of physics applied to them), and even the large 'Brute' enemy type (seen here) in drag. Weapons and enemies change between waves, modifiers adjust gameplay in strange ways, enemies attack from all corners and are as insane as you'd expect them to be in a mode named after loose men and women.

It's as unique as it is crazy and it's crazy enough to be entertaining, but only for a while. The issue I had when I played the mode was 'Whored Mode' felt too easy (no pun intended). Waves are completed so quickly you're looking at 'level completion' screens more often than not.

My co-op partner and I decided to switch back to single-player, not because we hit a difficulty spike but because we "understood" what it was. We had our fill. I won't go as far as to say that it's funny, but it's certainly a new coat of paint on a gameplay mode that we've seen plenty of times in recent years. I can't speak to the final version of the game, but from what I played, 'Whored Mode' seems like a good distraction rather than something I'll be sinking hours into.

Saints Row: The Third launches on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on November 15.

We'll have a full Saints Row: The Third preview on the site later this week.